Summer has begun

As I mentioned before, our first session summer volunteers arrived last week and have since taken over the apartment, or as I like to refer to it, The Hostel. (People tolerate my little phrases and oddities down here because I have interview editing power). While they're all currently out working hard (hosting programs at the library, shadowing at the local clinic, teaching English with Jos in a local neighborhood), last week we got to play tour guide and drag them around to our favorite tourist traps in the city.

This meant that they climbed the Basillica, toured the Plazas in old town, lounged in Parque Moya, ate lunch at Sazon de la Abuela in Conocoto, experienced the Guayasamin museum, hiked to the waterfall in Selva Alegre, and did science experiments at Mitad del Mundo (the equatorial line). All us jaded PDs got to experience these things (which we've admittedly done more than a few times between family & friends visiting, spring break, and our own wanderings) based off a meticulously planned schedule created by one Dana Conway, our summer guru.

Since Serena and I took the kiddos to Mitad del Mundo, those are the pictures I have to share with the blog :) There was even a llama sighting, which made me very happy. Have you SEEN their eyelashes?! Incredible.

(summer vols pose on the fake equator, which is actually 240 meters off from the real one)

(the summer crew on the ACTUAL equatorial line, as dictated by GPS)

Ginny balanced an egg on a nail! And got a certificate for it :)

(Serena does a balance experiment on the equator)

(Eyelashes!!!)

Interview a PD: Serena Zhou

And...a week later, Serena's interview is finally finished! Her responses were definitely worth the wait, though :)



The sound is a little funky, gets pretty quite in certain parts and slightly loud in others (although that's probably because I have zero volume control over my laugh), but it wasn't worth delaying it more for me to watch more tutorials on apple.com.

Happy Sunday!
Holly

Questions and the Moon

With our first session summer volunteers arriving tonight, life at the house has gotten a liiiiiiittle crazy. As evidenced by the still-unedited Serena interview, nowhere to be found monthly update, and general neglect of the dishes.

The interview will be up at some point this week, but in the meantime, please start sending me questions for Seth Harlan! The deadline for questions is Thursday at noon, so send them in before then if you want them to be included!

Last night we ate dinner up on the roof to celebrate our last 'family dinner' before summer changes everything, and the moon was killer. Check it out below.

Holly

An Open Letter

An open letter to all of our Moms, who we miss even more than usual today.

Dear Mamas,

Happy Mother's Day!

We're sorry we can't be there to bring you breakfast in bed or help out in the garden, take a walk through the neighborhood or share a glass of wine on the porch together. Thank you for letting us venture out on our great Ecuadorian adventure and for making home such a sweet place to which to return.

Below you will find a few things we miss most about you, today and every day!

Love,
Us


(Walks through the neighborhood, movies on Saturday, Chicken & Rice and Thanksgiving)


(Talking on the phone at least three times a day)


(Good ole' home cooking - king ranch chicken, spinach enchiladas, chicken barf bombs, etc. )


(Afternoons spent wandering the stacks together at The Tattered Cover Bookstore)


(The healthy desserts and assisting in turtle surgeries)


(Looking at you looking at me, and your smile)


(Roaming around the house yelling "MOOOOMMM" then realizing she's probably in the backyard again with a glass of sweet tea, tending the garden. Yep, right again.)


(Tunnel of Fudge Cake, Rocky Road brownies, and walks in the park at dusk!)